Kiss of the Forest (formerly Magic Myth)
by JessSYLim
Summary: (Rewritten) Tauriel and Prince Legolas are forbidden to be together by the rule of Legolas's father, King Thranduil, king of the elves. Will Tauriel and Legolas find a way to be together? Or will Legolas fall for someone else that his father approves of?
1. Part One

_Inspired by the movie trilogies The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings._

**Kiss of the Forest**

**Part One**

Chaos dances like a snake around me as I slaughter one orc after another, freeing their wretched heads from their miserable shoulders. The battle has been going on for quite some time, for the orcs' numbers are great, but we, the elves, are still driving them back.

It takes a while, but finally, all I see is corpse after corpse littering the battlefield.

"Victory is ours!" shouts Legolas, the elf prince, heir to the elf throne and son of King Thranduil.

Exhausted, we ride back to the palace, where King Thranduil is waiting anxiously for Legolas to lead us home, although he will never admit it. As we arrive at the palace, we're loaded with chores so we can get even stronger. After all, it's important that we know how to treat our armour and weapons. The better we know our materials and territory, the less we'll get wounded.

"Legolas, you and Tauriel can work together on cleaning everyone's weapons," orders King Thranduil, "And Tauriel," he sneers, turning to me, "Legolas has grown very fond of you. Do not give him hope where there is none. There's no way a lowly Silvan elf like you could possibly be good enough for my son, captain of the guard or not."

_That jerk of a king can stuff his pain in the neck lowly attitude into an orc's face, then throw it and the orc in Mount Doom. Everything changes now that I know that Legolas likes me!_ I think, walking away and joining Legolas to clean everyone's weapons. I walk into the room where Legolas is seated and sit down next to him.

"I know you have feelings for me, Legolas," I pretend to accuse, looking at him.

"What? Who told you that?" he asks, his eyes flickering across to me, caught off guard.

"Your father. He said not to give you hope."

Legolas looks at me in the eyes, surprised. I look back and we locked eyes, neither of us moving a muscle as gaze fondly. I never noticed how gorgeous his eyes are. They're an emerald green, with just a hint of blue, and they sparkle like a thousand diamonds.

"You just disobeyed my father," he drawls softly.

"I don't care," I whisper.

"Oh, Tauriel," Legolas sighs. "You have no idea how much I want to be with you, but..."

"Legolas! Tauriel! Are you finished yet? What's taking so long?" the king, unaware that he cut his son off, demands impatiently.

"Sorry, father. We're almost done," Legolas replies, wiping his face of any emotion.

"Well, hurry up! On the battlefield, there is no time for pointless chit-chat!" the king scolds.

Neither of us replies and Legolas starts wiping down weapons faster than before. I follow suit after finding no emotion on his face. As we finish, both of us are silent as a grave, but I keep stealing glances at him.

"Good! Now, go relax," orders King Thranduil. I jump, not realising he's behind us. Sneaky.

"Yes, father," sighs Legolas, turning to me and rolling his drop dead gorgeous eyes, a little smile tugging the corners of his mouth upwards.

A nervous smile plays at the corners of my mouth, even though I'm confused by the sudden changes in his behaviour. One minute he's about to confess something, the next he has no emotion, and then he's warm again.

"What's going on between you two?" asks King Thranduil, switching glares between Legolas and me, "You know you can't marry her, Legolas. I won't allow it!"

Legolas shrugs and runs off. I swiftly catch up to him.

"Let's go to my chambers," declares Legolas. Seeing the shocked expression on my face, he adds, "I don't care if my father catches us. We're allowed to be together. Ever since my mother died, he's let me do nothing. It's about time I take a stand."

Together we sneak up to Legolas's chambers. Once both of us are in the room, he quietly shuts the door.

He sits on the bed and holds out a hand to me. I hesitate, and when he doesn't move and continues to sit patiently, I take it. His eyes shine in the starlight, which is beaming through the window. He pulls me in close and kisses me gently as if asking a question. I answer the question by falling into his embrace and kissing him back. The kiss is everything I ever dreamed of. For the first time, I truly feel at home.


	2. Part Two

**Part Two**

A few days later, I find out that King Thranduil has located thousands of suitors for Legolas, but Legolas has turned down each one.

Before I go on, let me explain a little more about Legolas and his family. Legolas's mum died when Legolas was quite young. She was captured and taken to Mordor. No one knows how long the Ringwraiths tortured her, but no matter how much they did, she never revealed any intel.

Eventually, they tortured her so severely she died. King Thranduil and Legolas were devastated. King Thranduil shut the kingdom away from the outside world. The gates never opened again to anyone but the elves who lived in the kingdom.

Legolas didn't understand a lot at that time, but as he got older, King Thranduil made sure that Legolas understood why he shut the kingdom away from Middle Earth all those years ago. Legolas started to distance himself from his father because even though he knew why his father did it, having the kingdom closed gave Legolas a lot less freedom and he couldn't explore. Legolas was and still is very curious about the world.

Anyway, back to the present. As Legolas turns down his suitors he keeps telling King Thranduil that his heart belongs to someone else. He never says who it is, though. We have this special connection, and when we kiss I feel fireworks. Yes, actual fireworks.

"Hey," Legolas murmurs, standing right behind me.

I'm practising my fighting skills in the palace courtyard. He snuck up on me when my back was turned. He has a way of doing that.

I stop practising and turn around so that I was facing him, barely containing my giddiness.

"My father is holding a meeting," Legolas continues, "Come on, let's go."

I follow him to the meeting where King Thranduil is waiting for us, my gushiness deflating. King Thranduil has a way of ruining moods, you could say.

"Lord Elrond of Rivendell has sent his daughter, Lady Arwen of Rivendell, to stay with us. You will treat her like any other elf. Some of the elves here in Mirkwood are treated badly. Do not treat her badly, since she will be staying here for a while," King Thranduil informs us.

"Your Majesty," a guard says, bowing to King Thranduil, "Lady Arwen of Rivendell has arrived."

"Let her in," King Thranduil orders, "From now on, this is her home as much as it is ours."

With those words spoken, King Thranduil swishes out the door and down the hall, as arrogantly regal as ever.

Arwen saunters gracefully in, looking a little bit nervous and lost. She glanced at Legolas and her eyes widen. There's no doubt that she has fallen head over heels for him at first sight. He has that effect on all elleths.

I sigh, "Legolas, you know where to find me if you need me."

Legolas looks at me, his gaze understanding. He knows the reason for my sigh, which is because I'm fed up with all the girls fawning over Legolas and want to tell everyone that we're together and don't care what kind of elleth I am, stopping the king from bringing forth suitors. Legolas nods once, meaning that I can go and he will come get me if he needs me.

With royal permission given, I walk out the door, down the hall, and outside to the palace courtyard. I work on my fighting skills for hours, and then when I finally get tired, I sneak up to my chambers unnoticed.

By the time I get to my bedchamber, it's past midnight. I get ready for bed in the pitch black. As I climb into my bed and pull the covers up to my chin, I remember that tomorrow night is the moonlight dance.

The moonlight dance is this big formal party, with all the girls in floor-length gowns and all the boys in tuxedos. The prince, who in this case is Legolas, chooses one girl to be the love of his life. He asks her to dance with him and the girl, whoever she is, can refuse, but by refusing that dance, she will offend the prince and might get thrown out of the palace and into the wild. If the girl accepts, the couple will move gracefully onto the dance floor, and they will dance to a slow song all alone on the floor.


	3. Part Three

**Part Three**

The next morning, I get up early to design and create my dress for the moonlight dance.

After a few hours, I'm done. My gown is an icy blue, tinged with beautiful lavender, with sparkling icy blue diamonds around the waist and a shimmering skirt. I shimmy into it, pull my long red hair into a high bun, then pull pieces out and curl them so it would look less ballet-like. I fasten a silver chain around my throat with a single silver moon dangling from the centre and put a pair of silver star and moon earrings through my ears. I curl my eyelashes with an eyelash curler, put jet black mascara on my upper and lower lashes, gold and light pink eye shadow on my eyelids, bronzer and rosy pink blush on my cheeks, and rosy pink lipstick and gloss on my lips. I slip my feet into my spotless blinding white heels.

Finally, I'm ready. I saunter gracefully out of my room and down the hall to the moonlight dance. People are already there, including Legolas, King Thranduil, and Arwen.

"Miss Tauriel," a guard announces me.

I float down the stairs as Legolas turns to see me. His eyes go wide and his jaw drops. He quickly closes his mouth as he stares. I take my place by Arwen.

When everyone is in their place, King Thranduil steps up and gets everyone's attention.

"Thank you for coming everyone! Now, if you please, my son, Prince Legolas!" King Thranduil announces.

Legolas walks up to his father and they switch places.

"Thank you, father. Elves of Mirkwood, I present to you the love of my life, Tauriel!"

There are a lot of cheers and whistles at my name. Apparently, I am quite popular. Arwen is clapping, but she can't hide the unmistakable jealousy that she's feeling. King Thranduil looks a somewhat angry, probably because he has already warned me of the consequences. I make my way up to Legolas and he gives the signal for the song to start. Beautiful elvish music fills the air as Legolas takes one of my hands and place his other hand on my waist. I put my hand on his shoulder and we sweep across the floor.

When the song ends, Legolas and I still stand in the same spot, staring into each other's eyes.

Suddenly, all nine Ringwraiths come out of nowhere, attacking every elf in sight. Arwen and I jump in front of Legolas to protect him, and all three of us whip out our weapons.

"Give up the elf prince she-elf!" the Witch King screams at me.

"If you want him, come and claim him!" I scream back.

Those words are followed by a bloodbath. During the bloodbath, Arwen and I are separated from Legolas. While Legolas is fighting some Ringwraiths, the Witch King comes up behind Legolas and drive a Morgul blade through his shoulder. Legolas collapses and a Ringwraith ties him up and slings Legolas over his shoulder.

"Back off! We have what we came for! We have the elf prince! Ride to Mordor!" the Witch King orders the rest of the Ringwraiths as the Ringwraith who has Legolas rides ahead.

"Legolas!" Arwen screams in despair.

She starts to run after Legolas but I stop her.

"Arwen, please stop! You'll only get yourself killed. We can't do anything without a plan!" I plead. No matter what her feelings are, she is still an elf and I will not let her die when there is something I can do.

"I have to! I have to go after him! I love him!" Arwen announces.

I stared at her as I confess, "I know. I love him too!"

"Then why aren't you going or at least trying to go after him? If you really love him..." Arwen trails off.

"Fight about this later, ladies. Now is not the time!" King Thranduil orders.

I can tell that King Thranduil is irritated that I like Legolas and that Legolas likes me instead of Arwen. I can also tell that he's thrilled that Arwen likes Legolas.

Meanwhile, at Mordor, Legolas is thrown into a cell by Ringwraiths. The Ringwraiths leave and Legolas realises he wasn't alone. He crawls forward, trying to see who is with him. He crawls even further...

"Mum?" Legolas asks, not believing whom he sees.

Legolas's mum turns over to face her son. The scars and gashes are so evident that Legolas just has to gasp. At the same time, he's happy. His mother is alive! Just barely, but still!

"Legolas, I need to tell you something," she gasps, reaching out to stroke her son's cheek.

"What is it?" Legolas probes gently.

"Make the most of your life and live your life to the fullest, because you never know when you are going to die. You might die soon, Legolas. I've seen it in your future, but you know as well as I do that it might not happen. I had to tell you this before I die. I have no strength left."

"No! No, Mum... Mum! Please, mum no..."

"Legolas... I love you... I always have...and I always will..."

With those last words, Legolas's mother lays her head back and closes her eyes, never to open them again. She has fallen into an eternal slumber.


	4. Acknowledgements

I have decided to discontinue _Kiss of the Forest _ and leave it as a short story. I feel like that it's better that way. Plus, the idea has faded, so I no longer have the same flame to keep it going. I will probably write another Middle Earth FanFiction in the future, however, one that is much better than this one and has a more in-depth story, so don't worry and keep a lookout for it!

Of course, shout out to J. R. R. Tolkien for creating the world of Middle Earth and Peter Jackson and his writing partners Philippa Boyens, Guillermo Del Toro, and Fran Walsh for creating Tauriel and expanding Mirkwood!

A special thank you to all my fans, followers, friends, and readers that supported along the way through each struggle that I went through. Remember, you are special and unique in your own way. Don't let anyone tell you any different!

To the rest of you, same thing! Believe in yourself, raise your head, and be strong!

Good luck to all of you!

~ Jess


End file.
